Extra! November/December 1988

A deluge of stories commemorated the 25th anniversary of President Kennedy’s death–from Time to the National Enquirer, from Geraldo Rivera to MacNeil/Lehrer–including over 30 hours of primetime programming. The media took a second look at the possibility of a second gunman in reports ranging from the serious (PBS Nova’s probe of the scientific evidence) to the ludicrous (Time’s theory that Oswald was aiming at Connally not Kennedy). Perhaps worst of all was Jack Anderson’s American Expose: Who Murdered JFK?, a two-hour syndicated special which claimed–with flashy graphics and flimsy proof–that Fidel Castro masterminded Kennedy’s death in retaliation for CIA plots …